


Candles and Thorns

by NovaLockheart



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adopted Neo, And he's undercover, F/F, F/M, Gen, Humor, Little sister Neo, M/M, Mute Neo, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Roman is 21 at the start of this, Slow Burn, Undercover AU, Violence, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaLockheart/pseuds/NovaLockheart
Summary: According to the media, Roman Torchwick was an elusive thief. He targeted the kingdom's precious dust and slipped through the fingers of all who tried to serve him justice.According to team RWBY, he was slimy, silver-tongued bastard that wanted to hurt people for his own selfish gain.According to people that knew better, he was an invaluable asset they needed to get the upper hand on the real enemy.According to the man himself? He was just a guy doing what he could the only way he knew how.





	1. Mission Failure

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is my first story on this site, and my first RWBY fic ever. Let's see how this goes! Thanks in advance for reading and I hope you enjoy this! Also, let me know if there's anything that needs to be tagged.

Roman Torchwick liked to think he was a professional. He liked to think he was efficient. He liked to think that he always had everything under control. And for the most part he did. He had a silver tongue and a heavy wallet; two things that almost guaranteed he'd have eager lackeys at his beck and call, ready to do all the heavy lifting and cleanup during and after a job. No need to get his own hands dirty. It gave him a sense of importance he was keen to hold onto.

He felt he at least deserved to have that since he was the fall guy and all. It really wasn't too hard to figure that out, not when it was only his face plastered all over the news. Just his. Not Mercury's, not Emerald's. His. He was Cinder's scapegoat, the guy who'd get tossed away and forgotten once his usefulness ran out.

Well, that was fine. He just had to remain useful. And for Cinder, “useful” meant collecting every spec of Dust he could get his hands on.

Roman paused at the edge of the sidewalk, taking a drag of his cigar as his eyes scanned the street. His cronies hovered behind him, waiting in anticipation for their temporary boss to make his next move. He smirked. It really did do wonders for his confidence when he had an entourage of hired muscle just waiting for an order to follow.

He exhaled a puff of smoke and continued on down the street, pointedly ignoring the civilians that gasped and stepped out of his way. Of course they recognized him. He was that Dust-stealing fugitive! Right out in the open! But that was where he was supposed to be, wasn't it?

The Dust shop was quiet. The only visible person inside was the owner, a balding old man who looked uneasy when the shady group of men entered. Roman took a second to flick the ash off the end of his cigar before speaking. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?”

The gun that one of the cronies thrust in the shopkeeper's face made him more than compliant. “Please! Just take my lien and leave!” He pleaded with his arms raised.

Roman gently shushed him. Feigning reassurance, he said, “Calm down. We're not here for your money.” Then, to his henchmen, “Grab the Dust.”

They got to work collecting all the Dust they could manage, while Roman patiently oversaw the operation from in front of the counter. Not for the first time, he wondered why hoarding all this Dust was necessary. He leaned against the counter with a crystal in his hand. It had something to do with weakening the kingdom, he knew that much. A shortage of the precious mineral wouldn't bode well for the huntsmen of Vale. But what was the end game? Roman didn't know. He wasn't close enough to Cinder yet to get any answers.

A blur of black whizzed by and hit the wall behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at the underling lying on the ground and then turned his gaze to the one standing nearest to him. He nodded towards the back of the shop, a silent order to take care of whoever was hindering the job.

Roman would have gone back to contemplating his place in the grand scheme of things, but he was interrupted again by another blur flying past him. This time, it was red one, and it shattered the window on it's way into the street. He and a handful of underlings peered outside, just in time to see the dramatic unfolding of a deadly scythe. It was girl clad in black with a bright red cape flowing in the breeze behind her. She had the gall to smirk at him before twirling her weapon in what Roman could only describe as a showy display of skill.

The girl was young, barely around fifteen if he had to guess. _Just a kid, really_. Part of why he pulled these heists in late hours of the night was so he could _avoid_ bringing children into his messes, but what could he do? She was in the way.

“Okay...” Roman looked at his goons who were just standing around. Impatiently, he said, “Get her.”

He was told that these guys would be able to handle this sort of thing. Either he was lied to, or their real boss greatly overestimated them. With no small amount of flair, the red hooded girl make quick work of them, working her scythe with a sort of grace that suggested hours upon hours of practicing. Roman would have thought it impressive if she weren't making his job difficult. When the last of his goons landed at his feet, he cast him a disinterested glance. “You were worth every cent. Truly you were.” His voice was laced with sarcasm as he said it.

He lifted his gaze to the wannabe huntress standing before him. Her silver eyes flashed with a challenging gleam. _Hm_. “Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening,” His cigar was flicked to the ground and crushed with his cane. “And as much as I'd love to stick around...” The cane was lifted, it's tip popping open to reveal a reticle. “...I'm afraid this is where we part ways.” A flare whistled out of the muzzle and exploded upon impact with the ground at the hooded girl's feet. He wasn't interested in fighting her though. This heist was ruined and he needed to flee before he drew anymore unwanted attention.

While the girl was distracted with dodging his flare, he bolted for the fire escape leading up to the roof across the street. When he made it to the other side of building, a shout stopped him in his tracks. “Hey!”

“Persistent...” Roman kept his back to the little huntress, instead focusing on the Bullhead that rose into the air in front of him. He bit back a sigh when he remembered who the pilot was. He wasn't looking forward to facing her after failing his mission, but he couldn't afford to get caught yet, so climbed aboard the get-away vehicle. He turned to face the red hooded girl still standing on the roof. _You shouldn't have followed me, kid. I have to keep up appearances._ “End of the line, Red!”

He tossed a Dust crystal onto the building and shot it with his Melodic Cudgel. The resulting explosion was blocked, though. A glowing purple glyph served as a shield from the blast, and Roman frowned. What was _she_ doing here?

The glyph faded, revealing a prim woman with blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She cast Roman a critical glare, and he could only grit his teeth and ask himself again, _What was she doing here?_

She pushed up her glasses, eye's becoming less critical and more warning, and that was all the advance notice he got before she waved her riding crop to cast a spell. Ribbons of purple light surged toward the Bullhead, causing it to tilt this way and that when they made contact.

Roman fought to stay upright and stumbled towards the cockpit. Towards the true target. He steadied himself against one of the pilot seats, turning his attention to the woman in red at the helm. “We've got a Huntress!” he warned. When she rushed past him to face their enemy, he scrambled for the controls to keep the aircraft from crashing. That was easier said than don of course, especially when a storm cloud quite literally materialized from nowhere. “The hell...?” Of all things to start falling from the dark mass, icicles weren't what Roman was expecting. They struck the Bullhead relentlessly, sinking deep into the metal. One even pierced the glass above his head. “Whoa!!” He ducked in the nick of time, and spared an alarmed glance at the cold spike protruding from his seat. Right where his head had been. _Watch it, Glynda!_

Being busy with piloting the aircraft, he only caught little glimpses of the ensuing fight. A fireball from cinder, then an eruption of burning debris from the rooftop. He struggled to keep the vehicle steady from the force of a few small consecutive explosions, and looked up just in time to veer the thing to the side so flying concrete would bounce off the hull instead of caving in the glass above his head. He was starting to think the blonde was aiming for _him_ at that point. He'd have to have a little chat with somebody about that.

Cinder vaporized the Huntress' makeshift weapon of debris. The girl in red fired her weapon, but her bullets were blocked. Cinder made the ground beneath their feet erupt, effectively creating an opening for escape.

Roman could no longer dawdle. Whatever chance Glynda thought she had passed by, and he couldn't draw it out any longer than he already did. He steered the Bullhead away from the scene, and towards one of Cinder's hideouts.

“That didn't go well.” Cinder's voice was almost unnervingly calm. He saw her take the seat next to him out of the corner of his eye. “You didn't bring back any Dust.”

“Sure didn't.” Roman replied.

“You didn't factor in Huntsmen showing up.” Not a question. A statement.

“Why would I? They usually only show if there are Grim prowling about.”

“It was only a matter of time. It's their Dust we're taking.”

Roman didn't reply. There wasn't anything he could say, really. He had been under the assumption that he'd have a little _forewarning_ if there'd be Huntsmen laying in wait. Clearly that was not the case.

“Well, your failure doesn't really matter. Stealing from shops one at a time is taking too long, anyway. Going to the source might be more efficient.”

 _Oh dear..._ “Is that what we're going to do, then?” He cast her a sidelong glance.

“Hm.” The corner of her lips quirked upward.

* * *

A sigh escaped Roman's lips as he shut the door behind him. He shrugged off his coat and placed on the coat rack beside the door along with his hat. He hung his cane from the hook on the wall and then continued through the foyer of his condo. “I'm home, Neo!” he called. As he stepped into the living room, he saw a hand shoot up and wave from the other side of the couch. There was some rom-com playing on the flat screen. He ignored it and continued on to the kitchen. On the way, his scroll chirped. He fished it from his pocket.

_< How did it go?>_

“Bad.” Roman all but yanked the refrigerator door open and retrieved a beer. “Some wannabe Huntress made a mess of the whole thing. And then guess who showed up! Our friendly neighborhood witch of course! Damn near killed me...” He popped open the bottle and took a swig.

_< Should I tag along next time?>_

“I don't know if that's necessary yet.” And he'd like to keep it that way. Cinder knew about Neo, of course. She was technically in Cinder's circle along with him, but he preferred to keep their contact to a minimum.

_< If you say so.>_

_< Oh by the way>_

_< I got a message from Green>_

_< He wants you to call>_

“Oh good! I was just thinking we needed to talk.” Roman frowned bitterly. And then he sighed. He took another sip of his drink as he peered inside the fridge again. It was reasonably full, but he didn't feel like putting any effort into dinner. He checked the freezer for something easy and noticed there was something missing. “Neo, you're not eating ice cream for dinner, are you?”

_< =)>_

He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of fondness for his adopted sister. “For the love of—Order some take out or something!”

_< K>_

Roman exited the kitchen and headed upstairs to his room. He made his way to his walk-in closet, which really didn't too many clothes in it despite the space, and went straight for the locked metal cabinet towards the back. Inside it, there were various documents like bank info and birth certificates and every other thing that adults needed to deal with. There were also a few valuables, some emergency money and most importantly, a second scroll.

This one almost never this room. It was specifically for one person.

Every time Roman so much as looked at this scroll, he felt a flash of paranoia. He peeked out of his closet, listened, looked in ever direction and listened some more. He, of course, didn't see any sign of life besides himself, and he only heard the TV down stairs. Even so, he retreated back into the small room and shut the door. He even locked it for good measure.

He sat down up against the wall with the special scroll in hand, tapped on the sole contact saved into it and selected “video chat”. He only had to wait a few seconds before a familiar face appeared on his screen.

“Roman. My message got to you, I see.”

“Yeah, I did. But you know what? I was gonna call anyway. Why the hell did I run into a Huntress? I don't remember going over any changes in the plan.” Roman glared at the spectacled man on the screen. “It woulda been nice I got a little warning beforehand, you know? I'm not exactly equipped to take fully fledged Huntsmen.” He had his doubts about taking on apprentice ones too, but his pride wouldn't let him admit that out loud.

“You weren't in any danger—“

“Tell that to the icicle that almost speared my head.” He interrupted. “That reminds me, do give Glynda my _warmest_ regards, won't you Oz?”

“Consider it done.” The headmaster quipped. “Now, to answer your question.” He took a sip of his cocoa. All cozy and serene while Roman was nursing a bottle of alcohol to calm his frayed nerves. “Since your end of the job has required to you stir up so much trouble, there's been a little demand for Huntsmen to play their part in protected our Dust. You're lucky it _was_ Glynda you ran into and not someone ignorant of your role.”

“That would have been nice to know _yesterday_. You know. So I could have planned accordingly?”

“Well, now you know. Besides, catching you off guard for real makes your part more believable, doesn't it?”

“What, you don't have any confidence in my acting skills? Isn't that what you hired me for?”

“Of course.” Ozpin took another sip of cocoa. The bastard. “Anyway, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about.” His expression grew pensive. “It's about the young lady who engaged you beforehand.”

“The _kid_? What about her?”

“Well, she strikes me as someone who may become...important. She also strikes me as someone who would go out of her way to uphold the greater good, in which case it might prose a problem. For you, I mean.”

Roman sighed. _Great_. “Thanks for the heads-up, I guess?”

“I have a request.”

“Oh god.”

“If she does pose a problem, I ask that you try to deal with her without bringing her any harm. Can you do that?”

“If you don't want her to get hurt, then why don't you just make sure she doesn't poke around where she doesn't belong?”

“There's only so much I can do. Teens aren't very prone to listening.”

Roman sighed again, slumped against the wall. “I can't promise anything.” he said. “If it comes down to it, it's either her or me, and I'm pretty sure we can't afford to _not_ have a mole in Cinder's ranks. But...I'll see what I can do.”

“That's all I ask. I have nothing else to add. Do you have any news?”

“Yeah, actually.” He straightened a bit. “Cinder's getting impatient. She's considering hitting your Dust suppliers more directly. I don't know any details yet.”

Ozpin nodded, looking grim. “Well, keep me updated if you find anything else out.”

With that, the call ended. Roman stayed where he was, going over the events of that evening. Now on top of playing errand boy for one of the most dangerous people in Vale, he had to look out for some brat that might get in over her head. Her eyes flashed in his mind. Silver. Sharp. Something nagged at him. Like it was something important.

His regular scroll chirped.

_< Dinner's here>_

_< Hope pizza's ok =)>_

Roman's thoughts were replaced by hunger.

 


	2. Him Again

Ruby Rose was many things. She was young. She was eager. She was a little socially awkward. A little naive too. But she was honest and hopeful and she really really wanted to become a Huntress and help people like the heroes in her favorite fairy tales. She knew it was a dangerous profession, but she felt like she'd be up to the task. She was more than willing to face danger head on, like when she went up against that robber, that Torchwick guy. Maybe it was a little reckless, nut she didn't regret it. Well, she regretted that he got away. But she had no choice but to let him go. His accomplice was too strong, even for a fully trained Huntress.

Still, it was secretly a sore spot for Ruby. Sometimes she'd see the news and see his smug-faced mugshot taking up the screen, usually accompanied by a headline that said something along the lines of "Dust Thief Continues to Evade Justice". Lately though, she hadn't much of him on TV at all. There were still robberies happening all over Vale, but now the police suspected some terrorist group or something.

Ruby wasn't convinced Torchwick didn't have something to do with it though. A little part of her hoped that digging around on the internet would glean some news about it his whereabouts, but of course it didn't. All she could find were articles from months ago.

She stifled a yawn and checked the time. Two twenty-four AM. She really should have gone to sleep ages ago. She glanced at the makeshift bunk-bed across the room. Yang was snoring away on the top bunk, limbs splayed out in all directions. Blake was curled up on the bottom bunk, nothing but a round lump under her blanket. Her bow was poking out from the top. It was weird how she slept with that on. She could hear Weiss' even breaths coming from the bunk below her own. Ruby was the only one still awake.

Well, it was a weekend. She could sleep in.

* * *

Or not. The redhead was jolted awake when somebody hoisted themselves onto her bed and flopped on top of her. "Wake up, Rubes!" Ruby groaned, turning her face into her pillow as if it would help her escape her sister. "C'mon, we were all gonna go check out that flea market we saw last week, remember?" No. She hadn't remembered. But she didn't want to skip out on the trip either. She wanted to see how Weiss would react to it.

"Okay, okay, I'm 'wake..." She yawned.  Her sister rolled off of her and hopped to the floor. Ruby sluggishly sat up and looked at the clock. It was about eight thirty. She sighed. Well, six hours of sleep wasn't too bad.

She swung her legs over the edge of her mattress and let gravity pull her to the floor below. She raised her arms above her head and stretched as high as she could, while letting out another yawn. Her teammates had already started changing, so she hurried to join them.

Before long, she was fully dressed an ready to go. "Okay girls!" Ruby pumped her fist into the air. "Let's move out!"

"Yeah! This is gonna be awesome!" Yang grinned and mimicked the redhead's fist pump.

"I don't understand what the big deal is." Weiss crossed her arms. "The way you described it makes it sound like people are just selling a bunch of junk."

"But it's _cool_ junk!" The blonde insisted. "Seriously, there's usually stuff there you can't find anywhere else."

"Yeah, like vintage clothes and furniture and jewelry and trinkets like that." Ruby added. "You'll find stuff you like, you'll see!"

"Hm..." The heiress didn't look convinced. "I have my doubts about that."

"It won't hurt to have a look." Blake chimed in. "And you already agreed to go, so."

"I _know_! I wasn't backing out." Weiss uncrossed her arms and started towards the door.

The team stepped out of their room, locking the door behind them. On the way down the hall, they ran into a familiar face coming around the corner. "Oh! Mornin' Pyrrha!" said Ruby.

"Hello." she responded with a smile. "Where are you guys headed?"

"We're going the flea market downtown. Oh, hey! Maybe you and your team could come with us!"

"That sounds like fun, but..." Pyrrha frowned, eyebrows knitting together. "Jaune isn't around today. I don't think the team and I would feel right going without him, you know?"

"Is he with Cardin again?" Blake asked. She almost sounded bitter.

Pyrrha lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Probably." she replied. She didn't look too happy about it. "Well," She shook her head and smiled. "You guys have fun! See you later!"

The students bid their goodbyes and parted ways.

* * *

The market was already bustling with activity. There were more booths than Ruby could count, all squeezed close together so it was hard to see where one ended and the other began at first glance. There were lots of people meandering through the rows of stalls, perusing what was available. It was almost overwhelming. Ruby had only ever been to a flea market a handful of times in her life, and it was a smaller one in Patch. This one looked like it could go on forever.

"So this it?" Weiss asked. "It's pretty...rustic." she said. It didn't sound like a compliment.

"Hey, don't pass judgement on it yet! Let's actually have a look around first!" Yang pressed her hand to the heiress' back and gently pushed her towards nearest stalls. Ruby and Blake exchanged a glance, smiled at each other and then followed their teammates.

The team started their slow journey along the row of booths. Ruby and Yang stopped at nearly every stall, thoroughly looking at each knickknack they saw. Black wandered a little ways away from them, sometimes moving ahead, or lagging behind, but she stayed in their vicinity. Weiss was looking increasingly perplexed, as though she were having trouble making sense of everything she saw.

"I don't get it, everything is so disorganized!" She said at one point. "How are you meant to find anything you're looking for?"

"That's the fun of it, Weiss!" Ruby said. "You just have to look through _everything_. And then you wind up finding neat stuff you _weren't_ looking for."

"That sounds like a waste of time."

"Then it's a good thing we don't have anything else to do today, isn't it?" Yang hip-checked the heiress, earning herself a glare. "Lighten up, snowball. There's bound to be something around here you'll like." Weiss begrudgingly continued to look around.

Eventually, they girls came to a crossroads of sorts. They could continue to look in any direction. "So, which way next?" Ruby asked.

"Oohh! That stall has _lava lamps_!" Yang's eyes lit up as she pointed towards a row to her left.

"That one is selling books..." Blake's eyes were fixed on a stall a couple of rows to her right, back towards the way they came.

"I don't really mind where we go next." But Weiss seemed to gaze longingly at something behind her leader.

"Okie-dokie, it looks like we're all distracted by different stuff, so!" Ruby clapped. "Why don't we split up for now?" she suggested. "We can all meet back up later!"

"Sounds good to me!" Yang darted off.

"See you in a bit." Blake practically disappeared.

"You all have fun!" Weiss passed Ruby and walked off with a purpose.

Ruby looked around, rubbing her hands together. Where should she go first? _Gosh..._ There were so many stalls! She tapped her chin with her index finger. On the corner of one row, she spotted a bunch of plush toys lined up on a fold-up table. She meandered on over, taking in the site of each plush. There were dogs and cats and rabbits and bears; all of them adorable. But the one that stuck out to her looked like it was supposed to be a wolf. It was round with pointy ears on top and a tail on the bottom. It had no legs, just a face on the front. It had red dots for eyes, a black bead for its nose, and a smile that showed jagged teeth. Ruby was immediately smitten. It had to be hers. It didn't cost too much, so she bought it. She smiled as she walked away with it.

* * *

Ruby didn't know how long it took her to get there, but eventually she had wandered all the way to the edge of the market. It was right next to the river that cut through Vale and separated the Commercial District from the Residential District. She stopped at a stall showcasing a bunch of smokers' memorabilia. Cigar and cigarette cases, pipes, lighters, weird glass vase looking things with tubes on them... Ruby didn't know those were bongs. But those weren't what she looked at, anyway. There was an assortment of zippo lighters displayed on the table in front of her, ranging from sleek, plain metal ones to ones that had more intricate designs.

Her eyes were drawn to one in particular. It was silver with a little picture etched into it. It was of a skull viewed from a three quarter angle, it's left side being the focus. It was a cracked skull, with its jaw hanging open. There were thin, thorny vines protruding from the cracks, wrapped around the skull's head, around its jaw, coming out of its left eye socket. In its right eye socket was a rose in full bloom. It was beautiful, if tragic. "I need it." Ruby whispered. She didn't need it. She never had any need for a lighter, and yet...It would be a shame _not_ to buy it. So she did. It would just be a neat little keepsake. She tucked it into the bag she kept her ammo in.

Ruby was just about to wander down another row of booths, but something made her look towards the opposite side of the river. She couldn't tell what it _was_ , exactly, but she found herself scanning the walkway on the riverbank. There weren't too many people. A few of joggers, someone walking their dog, a couple sitting on a bench...And a man wearing a bowler's cap and a white coat, with a cane in his hand. Ruby's mouth fell open, eye's locking on the person who could only be Torchwick. He was talking to someone wearing a mask. Their conversation apparently ended a moment later, because they parted ways. The masked fellow headed towards a boat waiting on the river. Ruby ignored him, instead watching Torchwick ascend a flight of stairs leading up to the apartment buildings of the Residential District.

Ruby squeezed her plush and looked around for the nearest bridge. She couldn't just let him get away! She dashed across a bridge nearby, being careful not to run into anyone. By the time she got to the staircase, Torchwick was already gone. She jogged towards the apartments, tried to think of which way he would have gone and decided to walk down an alley between two buildings.

Her intuition turned out to be correct. When she got to the other side of the passage and looked both ways, she spotted her target strolling down the street not too far ahead. She ducked behind a lamp-post. Not very useful for cover, but she hadn't been noticed yet, so it didn't matter.

Ruby bit her lip, considering her options. There wasn't anybody else around. She could confront him, knock him out, call the police... Or she could follow him, and see if he'd lead her to his accomplices, and _then_ call the police. But that could be dangerous. If she was caught, she didn't think she'd be able to handle it on her own. _Should I call my team...?_

Just as she thought about them, her scroll chirped, causing her to jump. She gulped when Torchwick whirled around upon hearing the sound, cane raised defensively. His mouth fell open and then snapped shut in the span of half a second when he laid eyes on her. " _You?_ "

Ruby jumped out from behind the street lamp, whipping out her scythe. "Torchwick, you're under arrest!"

There was a short pause, in which the man's eye flitted to the redhead's lower left side and then back up to her face. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by the little girl who brings her stuffie to a fight?"

Ruby turned her head, just enough to look at the plush toy tucked under her arm. She felt the need to defend herself. "I just bought this!" She glared, teeth clenched, cheeks faintly warm.

"Uh-huh, well I think you should run along back home, Little Red." He pointed his cane her way, not quite at her, but to the ground beneath her feat. " _We wouldn't want you to get hurt, would we?_ " His eyes hardened, and there was a certain cadence to his word that _almost_ made Ruby think he _didn't_ want to hurt her. But that was silly. Why would a criminal be concerned with her safety?

"I'm not going anywhere!" She pointed her scythe at him, but then it dawned on her that she needed _two_ hands to use it. She glanced at her plush toy. _Well, crud_... In that moment of realization, Torchwick fired his weapon. The familiar squeal of a flare rang out loud, and Ruby jumped out of the way. There was a small explosion just shy of where she had been standing. Another shot rang out, and then another, and Ruby couldn't do much but dodge. She couldn't handle her weapon the way she normally would. She could still swing it around, she supposed. That would have to do.

She darted towards Torchwick with incredible speed. He narrowed his eye and swung his cane at her. She blocked it with her Crescent Rose as well as she could using only one hand. She had a harder time blocking the next blow, and the one after that wrenched her weapon awkwardly to the side. She had no choice but to jump back to avoid being struck dead on. She tried to get a reasonable distance away, but a hook caught her by the ankle. Ruby had _just_ enough time to notice it was the curved side of Torchwick's cane before she was suddenly yanked into the air. She shrieked, not at all prepared to be sent flying down the street. She landed hard on the asphalt, the breath knocked out of her chest. " _Ow_..." She croaked. She sat up painfully, and looked around. Torchwick was no-where in sight, and Ruby had no idea where he could've gone.

She sighed and looked at her plush toy. "This is all your fault..." she said. It only continued to smile at her. Her scroll chirped, and she remembered she had a message from earlier too. She pulled it out and checked her messages. The two newest ones were both from Yang.

The first said:

<Hey Ruby! Where u at? We think we're done shopping. U wanna grab sumthin 2 eat?>

The next said:

<Rubes? U ok?>

Should Ruby tell her what happened? She bit her lip. _No_. It would just make her sister worry. The fight was already over and Torchwick was gone. She texted back:  <Sorry I was distracted! Food sounds good. Where should I meet you?>

She might as well try to enjoy the rest of her day. She got up, tucked away her weapon, and headed back towards the flea market.

 


End file.
